Railway brake-beam.



S. A. CRONE. RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1910.

' 981,620, Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

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SETH A. CBONE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY BRAKE-BEAM.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911.

Application filed April 29, 1910. Serial No. 558,397.

To all whom t't may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH A. C-RoNn, a citi zen of the United States, anda resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailwayBrake-Beams, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in railway brake-beams, and itconsists in the novel features and structure hereinafter described andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention pertains more especially to truss-beams and resides in anovel construction of the compression and strut members of the beam.

One object of the invention is to produce a generally channelcompression member of novel construction rendering it of increasedeiiiciency in resisting the strains to which such member is subjected inpractical use.

The novel features of the strut pertain more particularly to thoseportions thereof in engagement with the compression member and wherebythe strut and compression member become secured together.

The preferred channel compression member embodying my invention willpreferably be pressed up from a plate into its channel shape and givensuch special form and construction as to enable it to etficiently resistboth direct strains and vertical strains, but a portion of my inventionmay be realized in the use of an ordinary channel section reconstructedto receive the strut and more effectively resist vertical strains.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed descriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which:

Figure 1 is a top view of a portion of a brake-beam embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 is a detached top view, on a reduced scale, of theentire compression member of the beam; Fig. 3 is a front elevation ofthe same; Fig. 4 is a vertical section on a somewhat enlarged scalethrough an end portion of the same on the dotted line H of Fig. 2; Fig.5 is a corresponding section through the middle portion of thecompression member on the dotted line 5E of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is anenlarged vertical section through the beam on the dotted line 6-6 ofFig. 1, the truss-rod being omitted; Fig. 7 is a Vertical longitudinalsection through a portion of the same on the dotted line 7-7 of Fig. 6;Fig. 8 is a Vertical transverse section through a portion of the same onthe dotted line 8-8 of Fig. 6; Fig. 9 is a top view of a compressionmember embodying a portion of my invention made from a usual form ofrolled channel section; Fig. 10 is a side View of the same; Fig. 11 isan enlarged vertical section through an end portion of the same on thedotted line 11-11 of Fig. 9; Fig. 12 is av corresponding section throughthe middle portion of the same on the dotted line 12-12 of Fig. 9; Fig.13 is a detached top view of a compression member embodying all thefeatures of my invention except that which pertains to affordingincreased capability of resisting vertical strains; Fig. 14: is a sideelevation of the same; Fig. 15 is an enlarged vertical section throughan end portion of the same on the dotted line 15-15 of Fig. 13 Fig. 16is a corresponding section through the middle portion of the same on thedotted line 1616 of Fig. 13; Fig. 17 is a top view of a portion of abrake-beam embodying a modified form of my invention; Fig. 18 is adetached top View of the compression member thereof; Fig. 19 is an innerface view of the same; Fig. 20 is a section of the same on the dottedline 20-20 of Fig. 18, and Fig.

i 21 is a section of the same on the dotted line 2121 of Fig. 18.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive, 20 designates thecompression member, 21 the truss-rod, and 22 the strut, the truss-rod atits middle portion engaging the strut and at its ends being secured atthe ends of the compression member and retaining the brake-headsthereon, as usual. The compression member 20 is of special constructionas to its capability of resisting direct strains and also verticalstrains, and said member 20 is of generally channel crosssection andpreferably pressed and drawn up from a flat rolled plate to form theupper and lower corresponding sides 23 and vertical back 24 connectingsaid sides. The compression member 20 in its preferred constructionembraces two.main characterizing features, one being that said member issplit through a portion of its back 24 and spread open vertically (Figs.8 and 5) to create a truss effect and enable the member to moreeffectually resist vertical strains, and the other being that in theformation of the channel the member is given a straight front edge and arear edge which inclines or tapers frontwardly from the middle of theback toward the ends of the beam, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Ipreferably construct the member 20 from a plate having parallel sideedges and by means of dies force the plate into channel shape with thechannel deepest at its center and thence tapering, at the back of thebeam, toward the ends thereof, the metal at the ends of the beam beingin conse quence somewhat thicker than at the middle portions of thesame, as indicated in Figs. et and 5. In accordance with my method ofconstruction the compression member without increasing the weightthereof beyond what would be required for a straight channel beam, isincreased in horizontal width between its end portions and in efficiencyto resist direct strains, and is also increased in height at its middleportions and in capability to resist vertical strains. The split throughthe back 2 1 of the channel and the spreading of the beam vertically,upwardly and downwardly along said split, results in the beam beingwidest at its vertical central parts and thence converging at its upperand lower sides toward the ends of the beam (Fig. 3), said split andspreading not extending through the ends of the beam but being confinedto the intermediate or middle portions thereof. A further feature of mycompression member is that in the pressing up of the same I preferablyretain the initial metal in the edges of the plate for a certaindistance between the ends of the same so as to create reinforces or ribs25 along the front edges of the beam, said ribs not extending to theends of the beam where the metal is not materially thinned by the dies,but along those portions of the beam which have been sub ected to thegreatest pressurein giving the beam its increased horizontal width.

I do not limit my invention to all of the features of the compressionmember I have hereinbefore described, but regard all of said features asdesirable in the attainment of the best results.

The truss-rod 21 and brake-heads 26 are The strut 22 is also of of usualcharacter. usual character except at 1ts outer end where it is engagedwith the compresslon member,

and at said end the strut is formed with an open box or yoke 27 to beslipped over the end of the compression member and snugly engage themiddle portion thereof. Vithin the channel-chamber of the compressionmember and to engage the inclined inner side 28 of the box or loop 27, Iforce a fillingelongated slot in a lug 32 on said block, said slotpermitting of the adjustment of the block within the head of the strut.As means for further securing the strut and compression member together,I preferably form small ribs or studs 33 on the inner side of the outerend of the strut (Fig. 6) to enter depressions or recesses 34: in thecompres sion member when said strut is in proper position, said studsand depressions serving to lock the strut and compression member againstshifting action one on the other.

Figs. 1 to S inclusive present the preferred embodiment of all portionsof my invention, but I do not limit myself to all the features anddetails shown in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive since some of them may beomitted and others modified without departing from the spirit of myinvention. For illustration, in Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, I show thecompression member as made from a rolled channel section split throughits back and having its upper and lower sides spread apart, as in theconstruction indicated in Figs. 1 to 8, thereby without increasing theweight of the beam, securing the added capability of resistance tovertical strains, which is one of the highly desirable features of myinvention. The strut shown in Figs. 1 and 6 may be used with thecompression member shown in Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12.

In Figs. 13, 14c, 15, 16 I show a pressed-up compression membercorresponding exactly with the compression member of Figs. 1 to 8inclusive except that it is not split in its back and its upper andlower sides are not spread apart vertically to attain the increasedresistance to vertical strains which such construction afi'ords.

In Figs. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, I show a compression member 35corresponding substantially with the compression member of Figs. 1 to 8inclusive except that it lacks the reinforces or ribs 25 illustrated inFig. 1.

The channel is initially straight at its front edge but in use it may becambered to some extent due to the pull on the ends of the member.

I do not limit my invention to splitting the back of the channel sincethe upper and lower sides thereof may be spread or spaced from eachother by stretching the metal in the back, extra metal being providedfor this stretching, if required.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

1. A brake-beam comprising a compression-member, a strut and atruss-rod, said compression-member being of channel formation and splitthrough the middle portions of its back, with the upper and lower sidesof the beam along the split spaced apart; substantially as set forth.

2. A brake-beam comprising a compressionmember, a strut and a truss-rod,said compression-member being of channel formation and having a straightfront edge and a rear edge or back which inclines frontwardly from itscenter toward the ends of the beam, the upper and lower sides of thecompression member having integral ribs extending along their frontedges; substantially as set forth.

A brake-beam comprising a channel compression-member, a strut and atruss-rod, said compress-ion member gradually decreasing in horizontalwidth from its center toward its ends and being split through the middleportions of its back, with the upper and lower sides of the beam alongthe split spaced apart; substantially as set forth.

l. A brake-beam comprising a channel compression member, a strut and atrussrod, said compression-member having a straight front edge and arear edge or back which inclines :t'rontwardly from its center towardthe ends of the beam, and the back of the compression member being splitthrough its middle portions, with the upper and lower sides of the beamalong the split spaced apart; substantially as set forth.

5. A brakebeam comprising a channelgig compression-member, a truss-rodand a strut, said strut having on its outer end a yoke encompassing saidchannel and inclined on its side facing the open side of the channel,combined with a filling block within the channel and engaging saidinclined surface, and a bolt securing the filling block and struttogether, one of said arts havingaslot and the other a hole for thebolt; substantially as set forth.

6. A brake-beam comprising a compression-member, a truss-rod and a struton whose outer end is a yoke encompassing said compression member, saidyoke and said member respectively having a lug and a recess to interlockand hold the parts in due relation to each other; substantially as setforth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 27th day of April A. D. 1910.

SETH A. CRONE.

Witnesses ARTHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL.

